romans holiday

Yep, I liked Mish's take on it: "Don't expect a [sudden] event but rather a [long] process". Also, a continued period with deflationary pressures could set up a great opportunity to occasionally trade the volatilty where you could add a few ounces to your metal by your metal. Not that I would do this with more than a small portion of my holding.

If this is the case and silver is more volatile than gold then if one was going to trade a a few ounces on say Goldmoney [from time to time] it would make sense to trade silver [for dollars] instead of gold. Then at a later date trade silver to gold when the ratio was more favorable. No?

I mailed the downloaded form back a few days ago. Waiting now to here back from GM. The biggest hassle was the certification process though that was not too much of a headache. My first bank could not be bothered with verifying my identity and sent me on my grumpy way but my the second bank were more than helpful. As soon as the GM account is activated will wire through funds, wait for POG to crash, then buy.

Interesting. I just sold 15 ounces of bullion at the last peak in order to open an account with GM. Will have to listen to the latest CW podcasts [on holiday at the mo] before deciding on silver or gold [will want to keep this trading account very simple]. I want to buy what is most volatile so i can use that account to buy on dips and sell on peaks. it will also be a cash proxy account [have bullion mostly] so no great harm done if the price carries on upwards after selling into a currency. Due to the fact that I feel more comfortable with gold and know less about silver, at this stage I am thinking of swapping between gold and US dollars... but only very occasionally.

I find that big smiley signal in the gold graph a little scary. Last time we saw that look what happened to POG.

I suspect we will see massive volatility this year. I have just sold a small part of my bullion during this latest spike in order to buy on a coming dip. I believe we will both see further dips [punctuated by spikes of course], due to the scary economy and a macro-deflation, and also see POG break out at a later date to new highs. I have opened a Goldmoney account with what I recently sold. I plan to [semi] trade between gold and US dollars, but very infrequently...at most once a month following the large swings, in an effort to increase the amount of ounces in that account. If I get it wrong no great harm done... I have some cash in a bank account. Beyond this little bit of speculation, frankly, at the moment, in this environment, I am not interested. Perhaps in a year or two's time I will start to think about commodities. As for the pound, I guess it is due for a rally.

The facts are, whatever the iconoclasts think, gold has certain properties. Physical properties which makes it function extremely well as money. And metaphysical ones that captivate the human mind and make it an extremely valuable substance.

Interesting DrB. And I will be following your diary with great interest. But personally I am in the "batton down the hatches" mode. I will be keeping things as simple and as safe as possible. If I started trading now I would only be a beginner and given the stage of the cycle [a possible K winter] I think the chances are that even many well-experienced traders will have a hard time of it. Also, as you mention in the diary, whether or not, or how, one trades depends on your lifestyle. I like to consider myself a man of leisure... in my free time.

Yes, only selling a small percentage. And selling that at a profit. I definitely still consider gold my core position in this scary economy. The gold I sell will go into one or perhaps two of the better known mining producers. I consider it as a bit of a speculation as am firmly in the greater depression camp [hence the relatively small amount invested] . Personally, I see the best "investment" strategy being conserve your worth [in the strongest currencies], watch assets deflate and then buy in a few years time. The wildcard though is [hyper] inflation. If we see that, buy property with 50% mortgage.

Off to sell seven ounces today. First time I have ever sold gold. Reasons being: 1] I have all my cash in gold/silver [would like to "diversify" a little into mining producers]. 2] POG is spiking at the moment. 3] Good chance of another temporary low in POG next year with further forced liquidation. 4] Sitting on a pile of bullion in South Korea. 5] To prove to myself I can part with gold when needed. Gold has not gone to the moon, which many expected in an inflationary environment. Rather, it is performing extremely well in a macro-deflation where all asset classes, bar gold and certain currnencies, are deflating. With other currencies now deflating or showing weakness, the market is recognisng gold as itself a sound currency. Without wanting to sound smug, I think it should be obvious to all now, whatever their macro or economic view, that gold is proving to be the safest store of value as we reap the whirlwind. Good luck everyone for the coming momentous year.

I saw some twit on the other channel accusing the BBC of "gold ramping" just because they showed images of gold bullion in a vault at the start of some program on the banking/financial crisis. Talk about prejudice... but I think it is more than that.. many are in a ideological bubble of a modernity which is deeply iconoclastic. This bubble in the mind is ultimately the prime cause of the economic super bubble that developed. imo gold is one such icon of a past age that many, perhaps unconsciously, are hostile to. Reaping the whirlwind, the economic super bubble will pop. Looks like paper assets, including some of the weaker currencies will be blown away. Solid gold will be left standing to which people will have to go back to again. i think this will also involve the final deflation of modern pride, arrogance and hubris. God help us all, Merry Christmas.

I do not see a problem with it... just do not get too greedy [10% or so]. If, as most here expect, [hyper] inflation/ currency devaluation hits, at some later date, it would be very advantageous to have a small mortgage on your house. then you could sell half your gold and clear the mortgage. The crucial part is to not over-extend and keep it within a comfortable amount, with next to no risk. the muppets on CNBC keep talking about gold... and currency devaluation... which has to be a good sign.

A mortgage equity withdrawal could make sense if you only used a smaller portion of the houses value. Say 10% or so. I have a sister who has a small mortgage but works in a bank. I imagine her job is at risk. I would like to see her withdraw a small part of her equity and put it into gold. MEWing is not always wrong imo, just when the money is consumed.

Most of us have purchased gold in currencies other than the US dollar. Yet, due to force of habit we have tended to focus on the POG in the US dollar. Now we have POG rising in US dollars but it seems to be a bit of an anti-climax as the increased price seems mostly due to dollar weakness [in the NZ dollar it has not moved much... rather the kiwi has moved up quite a bit against the US dollar]. Is this a sea change where the dollar will become less significant to the price, or should I say value, of gold? If so which currency would be the best benchmark to measure gold in? The Yen? Or should we just confine ourselves to the currency we purchased in? Edit: and is gold started to behave as more of a currency here? I have long been convinced that gold would come into its own in the eyes of the market as the king of currencies.

Cheers for that. News flash! OPEC has just cut by 4.2 million barrels a day!!!! Wow... talk about overkill.. I think the market was expecting a "massive" 2 million cut.

Cheers for that. News flash! OPEC has just cut by 4.2 million barrels a day!!!! Wow... talk about overkill.. I think the market was expecting a "massive" 2 million cut.

Is this just dollar weakness? 'cos when I checked the POG in NZ dollars and Korean won [my purchasing currencies] it hasn't moved. But then oil down. Looks like the dollar is on the slide... which should attract more dollars to gold.. which should then lead to higher POG in all currencies.

This makes sense to me. Thinking of my investments as a series of concentric circles or a chess board, I consider gold bullion as my safest core position/base currency [the king]. Next ring out is silver bullion [queen]... one beyond that producing miners [rooks] etc. FWIW I bought silver bullion at around $10 and it is something like 15% of my bullion position. Slightly more speculative but could pay off handsomely.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortun....fortune/3.html

Now that the wheels are well and truly starting to fall off the economy, surely the PTB would have to realise the gig is up soon. How can they keep up appearances, by smacking gold down, when it is becoming increasingly obvious to all that the real economy has broken down. Bank of America just lost 35,000 jobs. Looks like GM [so goes America] may go bankrupt. etc etc etc.

Gold well up... platinum down. imo this will be an ongoing pattern for some time as long as deflation remains in the driver's seat. may be able to swap an ounce of gold for two ounces of platinum in the early half of next year some time. Who would have believed that a few months back.

... while whistling the tune "London bridge is falling down". I have found "gold is a solid and alternative currency" to have had some success. I will be trying this line on my parents this summer.

Yep, I can see them making a mad dash out of the gates sooner or later... I am hoping to buy the first two next month. Only interested in producers given the harsh macro environment. Couldn't believe my ears when I heard Rio Tinto scrapped 14,000 jobs today.

Wow! Platinum is now cheaper than gold! Platinum: 824 imo platinum will continue to get cheaper in comparison to gold.

I worry about my own parents humble savings. I will be back there on holiday shortly but can imagine it might be difficult to persuade them to put a portion into gold as the price in NZ dollars is now 1,500. Hmmm... maybe I will be able to sell them on some silver instead.